Foot support



July 5,1927.- H R ROGERS ,I 1,634,516

Foo'T SUPPORT Filed-Nov. s, 192s Infant; @y Aggem'v @if tgl@ PatentedY July 5, 1927.

R-Aren ePrice.-

V'HARRY R. ROGERS, oricnoaem-frnnmors.

Iroo'lrv SUPPORT.

Application.leznovemberqm1923. 1' serialfmofza'ol.

Mya invention'relatesjgenerallyto improvementsy in footfsnpports,fbutf'relates more; particularly to foot supports of thetypethat areradapted tofbe elnbodiedin thesole'of a 5 shoe.

l `The. general object of Amy Vinvention is to provide a construction which when embodied in a shoe shall greatly increase the comfort .cflthe u'serrwhen Walking. Y y

A further object. of my invention is to Lprovide a shoe constructionl whichshall producea `resultasiinilar to that which fis obtained when `one vwalks'barefooted upon s vmellow turfV andthe like. y

` frnotherfobjectof my invention is toprolvide construct-ion which will .assist in maintainin'gthe shape 'of the'shoe and increase itseffective life.

iWy invention" consists ygenerally in a device `of the form, arrangement, l construction and (3o-operation of the parts whereby 'the above .named iobje'cts, ytogether' ,',with others that wvill appear r hereinafter. are v attainable, .and myi invention will F-be more "-5 readily understood .by reference to thenccompanyn'gr drawings; which-illustrate what VI consider, at thespresenttime, to bethe preferred-embodiment thereof.` f

In ysaidsdraw-ings: lfig.v l isa-.rsidefelevation of the shoe embodying my invention, asportionfthereof being broken away-.better `to-fdisclosethe interior construetion.' Y l VFigx .isa top view of the supporting ide-l vice which isfasseniblediiifthe shoe, its-positionrelativepto thersolevof the shoe-being dicated -by Vmeans of dotted ,lin-es. l 'e Fig. '.3 .isa: cross-section,v substantially-- on `thenlineBv-S of Fig-2. 40 '`Fig. asla sectionalview on 4the lineA-c Y ofFigziQ. Y Figiis a perspective -vieW/offthe shank :porti'olrofthe devicegrand ,Figs-z 6 :and f7 arefV perspective *views frof parts in: their: :disassembledV condition, which are shown assembled.l ,in Fgsf 1,; 2 and- 4.

Under nmodern `conditions of- Ylife many footitronbles develop. due, very largely, to the unnatural confining of the feet in shoes of a relatively rigid and unyielding nature, and also to a. considerable extent because of the constant walking or standing upon cement walks, pavements and other hard surfaces. It has long been known that one can walk with comfort for great distances if the shoes are removed and if a suitable soft or mellow earth or turf is under foot. @The reason Ifor this. istghatfthe foot-fis.V so 4 shaped that wvl-ien subjected to `the pressure.y caused `by the lbod-y weight the `earth ,forms a Lcushion sfor the -arch and metatarsal bones .and ligaments.: In other words, the softv `eartlrtends. to crowd into ythe metatarsal -arclr ofthe foot, creating 4a prlessureont-he bones l thereof thuslserving :to ,support -f it. InshoesWas lheretofore devised,the solegof the shoe has been, relativelyatand,unyieldi ingV so 1 that 4the support lintended lbyeV nature has been removed andas@ result,',thef.foot .frequentlycauses trouble. I c f -I Ihave produ-ced ja shoe construction ywhich sininlatesptoa considerable extent the conditions ,that obtain when walkingbarelfooted,.,as;before,described. Referring now Ato the drawingsfor theldetails .of construc- Vtion,'l--represents a shoe. upper, Qthe .lower Y or outsolef the insole, andrthe heel. vInterposed I.between'the insole ,3 and ,theoutsole 25 is lan elongated metal, shank-like .memhere; The member 5 is; preferably` composedofsteel of. a relatively'liexible nature, such -for example-as twenty-two-jgange lsteel :which has been properly tempered .to Allinv-er-easefitsresilience .Atonefend 67 it is relatively avide, taperingY to a relatively nar- "lowsizefat the otherfend? whichyisf slightly f twisted-so,thatrzsaidend portionis inclined A.,.transwersely f to fbettenconform toQthat-Y`l part ,of,1tlieafoot i under,V which ,it is ,located The end f (renten,ds-,overl the, heel vportion ofthe shoe-.and is y.secured in place Qbyv means of nails or other fastening devices, which,-pass ...throngh the {..o'peningsf V,provided therefor.

Thegend eXten/ds-into what I term a ineta- Y ,tarsal-bnttonwhich as,here shown, is coin- Aposedef interiittingfnpper and lower parts -9 and; 10,; respectively'. Theruppervpart 9 is 'I preferablyvfcambered, asglis probably best ,shown ingEig-iandk it siprovidedl with a I tpl-unalityE of sharp' tcfmguel portions 1l where- .with .lit-is. emheddedfirmlyl'in?the' outsole 2.

, The @lower .rmernber;` I0 is .substantially rectangnlar' Vin shape l andl vvhas 1. a5.plurality;y of sharpgtonguerlike.:portions f 12 which extend throughbpenings 13 provided therefor in the member v9, these tongue-portions l2 being of sufficient length firmly to imbed themselves in the insole 3. Parts 9 and l0 are thus firmly interlocked, one with the other and imbeddedfirmly in the shoe against displacement. The member l0, as it best shown in Fig. 6 is provided'lwith side Walls 14 and lill Vand while the insole is still in temper, the

operator beats the insole 3 into a metatarsal gouge which has beenk formed in the last (not shown) on which the shoe is being produced,

`,thus producing a button-like projection in the shoe indicated at 17 inv Fig. 1. The parts 9 and 10 are now positioned at that point, the cambered surface of the member 9 being accommodatedvinA this cup-like portion of tiie insole. l/Vhen the part has been iirinly secured by its prongs projecting into the insole 3, the small end 7 of the shank 5 is placed in the receiving opening 16 with its end first abutting the end wall and then withdrawn about a quarter of an inch to the position shown in Fig. 2 whereupon it is nailed in place by the fastening devices passing through the holes 8 into the heel, as befor-e described. The shank is now 1irmly secured in place whereupon the outsole is laiiixeththe sole being properly hammered over the nietatarsal button which forces the prongs 11'of the member 9 into the outsole. rEhe member 9 has been provided with a central rib 9 to strengthen it. I might here add that I prefer to make both the members 9V and 10 of a composition composed of steel and brass to facilitate the sliding movement of the shank portion 7 between these parts and to overcome any tendency to produce noise. v

The shank, it will be observed, is provided with 'a rib or corrugation 18 which extends from a point rearwardly from the breast of the heel to a point forwardly therefrom, thereby providing great rigidity in the structure to that point, which is as far as it is necessary rigidly to support the human foot. From the end of the rib or corrugation 18 the shank becomes quickly smaller in size and hence quite flexible so that ityields under very slight pressure, thus sliding back Vand forth in the receiving slot of the metatarsal button with every action of the foot while in motion. The shank piece 5 is also curved to conform to the last and causes a gentle spring pressure against the arch of the foot which gives that much additional support. It should also be understood that the metatarsal button supports the metatarsal projection 17 against collapse and causes that desirable pressure upon the metatarsal bones and ligaments heretofore described.

The many advantageous characteristics of my shoe structure will be understood by those skilled in the art to which this appertains without further comment.

l claim:

1. A shoe embodying thereinV an outsole, an insole, and a foot supporting device positioned between said soles, said foot supporting device comprising an elongated metallic plate, means securing it to the heel of the shoe at one end, a metatarsal button having a convex top portion under which the opposite end of said plate is slidably mounted relative to said metatarsal button,

said plate being twisted at a point between its ends, whereby said ends when considered transversely extend in different angular planes.

2. A shoe embodying therein an outsole, an insole, and a foot supporting device positioned between said sol-es, said foot supporting device comprising Aan elongated metallic `plate and a metatarsal button, said metatarsal button comprising upper and lower interlocking-parts some of which so engage one of said soles as to lockthe button against Imovenient in said soles.

3. A shoe embodying therein an outsole, an insole, a foot supporting device positioned between said soles and including an elongated plate and a inetatarsal button, said button comprising spaced top and bot tom plates each having prongs and one of said plates having openings therein through which the prongs of the other plate extends, the prongs on the top plate extending into the outsole and the prongs on the bottoni plate extending into the insole, one end of said elongated plate being slidableY in the space between the button plates and the other end of said elongated plate being secured in said shoe at a point above the heel.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto setV my hand this 22nd day of October, 1923.

HARRY R. ROGERS. 

